This story involves a U.S. Army Special Forces, Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA) deploying to southern Mindanao immediately following the 9/11tragady. Upon arrival to Zamboanga, intelligence personnel informed the detachment that the Abu-Shielf...
Cultural understanding of the enemy and the populace is a key factor in success on the battlefield. Knowledge of the human terrain allows leaders and soldiers to foresee the impact of military operations on both sides, thereby allowing them to plan...
The Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines (JSOTF-P) indirect approach to irregular warfare (IW) offers senior U.S. policy makers and military commanders a suitable model worthy of consideration for conducting long-term military operations...
America's frontier wars: lessons for asymmetric conflicts. Congressman Ike Skelton; Congressman Ike Skelton suggests how to overcome the threat of asymmetrical warfare by examining yesteryear's battles to develop strategies and tactics for...
Six years after the fall of Saigon, South Vietnam, the effects of the Domino Theory appeared to have unfolded. Communist and nationalist movements had defeated American allies in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Then, in 1979, Nicaragua fell to...
This essay discusses the need for U.S. government agencies to develop a ground-level understanding and execution in its expeditionary interagency professionals in order to synchronize broader institutional reforms. The author posits that the teams...
The purpose of this monograph is to demonstrate the conflict between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Government of the Philippines is territorial and not religious in nature. To understand this conflict the past four-hundred years from...
In 1969, President Nixon started the now well-known "War on Drugs." The reason behind his "declaration" of war was the increasing national security threat posed by the transnational drug trafficking organizations. With the aim of making as much...
Major Rob Manley served as legal advisor for the 1st Special Forces Group in support of Operation Enduring Freedom-Philippines from April to August 2002. During the preparation for this deployment, Manley's wife gave birth to their child. The...